In my last paper, I was writing about lessons learned in one of those HBS cases that got me thinking about Babson. And it just happened to be a good topic for CrapCampus. The issue at hand was a new business ventures unit, and the cool thing they did was have a fluid board of directors. That meant that the board changed as the needs of the venture changed, providing the needed services at the right time.

I like that plan, but I consider it the exact opposite of my Babson education. The education here is more like the “give you a bunch of info, test you, then you get a degree so you can get a job in some cubicle.” Typical, but not what I was hoping for from a school that can claim “#1 in Entrepreneurship for 7 years now” or whatever it is up to. Obviously they need to be an accredited school and all, but I didn’t come to learn how to be a good employee. (Which makes sense, cause who would want an employee that makes websites like this?)

What I’m getting at is the lack of widespread support for entrepreneurs. Yes, there’s the e-Tower, the hatchery, and whatnot, but those spaces are severely limited. And since we’ve been doing some posts with constructive criticism, I’ll throw this out there:

As stupid as it is to make student businesses “register” here like Babson is the federal government, the “chamber of commerce” has done one thing right – the free legal services for students. You get some quick advice from a real lawyer about your business, when you need it. Hence the title of Timing. We do learn some good stuff in class, but who actually remembers those specifics years after graduation?

I guess that free legal advice is pretty limited too, but it’s a step in the right direction. It wouldn’t surprise me if that one good idea came from a student, because I can’t recall any good ideas that have come from OCL.

(Actually, I can remember some half-decent ideas they had… however, they never executed these ideas…)